Chapter 69
69
Holly walked towards the school, only to realise it was twenty minutes before the children would be let out, leaving her with nothing to do other than stand alone with her thoughts. But that was good, wasn’t it? In fact, if she looked at it objectively, the whole situation was positive. She’d had her heart broken. So what? It wasn’t the first time it had happened. If Dan hadn’t broken her heart by cheating on her, she would never have ended up in Bourton with the sweet shop and with Hope. And having a broken heart was a lot easier than what she went through with Evan. She would pick herself up and come out of this situation stronger. Yes, it would probably take a long time for her and Giles to rebuild their friendship, but in all fairness, nobody ever thought they would do that after the whole ‘sabotaging the sweet shop’ fiasco. Just like nobody thought that she and Ben would be able to co-parent Hope so well. It would require some adjusting; that was all.
What she needed to do was find a big enough distraction that would let her move on with her life and push Giles Caverty as far out of her system as possible. A new project, something to do with work, perhaps. And that was the moment she remembered.
With a burst of energy, she turned away from the school gates. Twenty minutes. That was definitely long enough to run home and back, provided she actually ran and, while it wasn’t common for Holly to be seen sprinting down the high street, she could reach a fair pace if needed. And at that moment, she needed to run.
It didn’t matter that her question could be asked just as easily in half an hour, an hour, or even a day’s time. It didn’t matter that Fin would be coming to pick his three up from school and if she hung on for fifteen minutes, she would see him anyway. She needed to talk to him. Now.
When she reached the house, she didn’t take out her key. Instead, panting from the exertion of the run, she knocked repeatedly on Fin and Jamie’s door.
‘Hey, Holly. Are you okay? Jamie’s going to be back in fifteen. Do you want to wait in here? I can pick up Hope if that helps.’
There was something about his expression and the way he was speaking to her, as if she might, at any second, crumble into a heap, that told Holly Jamie had spoken to him about the Giles situation. But she wasn’t here to talk about Giles. Not at all.
‘I’m good. Great, actually. That friend of yours, the one who’s starting the old-fashioned sweet shops in the States. I don’t suppose I could have his number today?’